Rise of Three Empires
by Panjason
Summary: Judge Jay Black had the pinnacle of his desires for the future within sight. He was recently appointed as a judge, a definite milestone. Jay also held interest in forging swords and today he would fulfill the longtime dream of forging swords to put on top of his mantelpiece... except he might not see his home again.
1. Prologue

Storms filled the night and anyone with a drop of sensibleness had barricaded themselves into their homes. The storms almost didn't seem just of rain and thunder but a siege of the world against but one man. 

These were horrid conditions for any except the most twisted of actions. Jorn mused. The storm mirrored the chaos he would bring with this ritual whether he succeeded or not. The ritual markings would seem to be just twisted versions of the ideograms of the magicraft language to the ignorant. (Well that included almost everyone but him) He knew the truth though; these were the originals, the runes the cardinal mages extracted out of the still warm cores of monsters. The fact that everyone knew that their magi language was but a distilled and more manageable form but didn't see the truth baffled him still. 

Jorn looked back on the years he had spent fruitlessly calling for everyone to reach even farther. What was stopping them now that the gods were thrown down? The instincts of a whipped meek species it seemed. They accused him of insanity while he accused them of cowardice. In the end, he received no offer of cooperation. 

With the room as a newly expanded and rough cavern barely lit with candles - Jorn still couldn't believe he had to resort to using candles- he was amused to find that this would look like some sort of ritual offering sacrifices to some dark god to those ignorant naysayers. Then again when Jorn became God he wouldn't be a benevolent one so maybe there was some truth to that. Wait he could actually ask one of those naysayers right now couldn't he? Jorn had one right here! 

"Hey Asani you never thought I would make it this far did you? Give me your thoughts. Oh wait I forgot I took your tongue. Kisorn lessen the effects of the scrambler on her a little." 

He had picked up an assistant but that fool didn't count. At best Kisorn provided Jorn with amusing ideas in 'experimenting.' But the idiot let one of the summoneds obtained using the original ritual escape. No matter, though. The escapee was a savage. 

He didn't know their language and his mana was a mess. This would continue to make reading his thoughts impossible as long as his Jacker still lived. Didn't his stupid assistant mention that his marker indicated he was a slave at the moment? 

How long was Kisorn going to... [YOU SICK DOG! YOU WILL NEVER SUCCEED! THE GUARDIANS WILL RIP YOU LIMB FROM LIMB OR THIS INSANITY OF YOURS WILL DESTROY...] Jorn kicked her in the face. 

"Well that was no fun; I thought I broke her in. Turn the scrambler to full power." This would only be a proof of concept but would still herald a new age - his age - and he relished holding the world itself hostage. As if an attempt by the world to smite him, lightning struck but only prompted a shimmering of the shields and slight strain in the sound nullification. 

Maybe the world didn't appreciate what could only be a mutilating of the laws of existence. He would have to work fast before an actual guardian regiment was sent his way; that was a real threat rather than the philosophized sentience of the world. 

All the calculations panned out, now Jorn only had to execute. Put simply he would be taking the first step to godhood. No not the cheap knockoffs the so-called-originals of his world were and pursued by the former revolutionaries and their descendants. He would crown himself with godhood that stretched across the worlds. Jorn had discovered that within the ritual plebeians considered the hero summoning ritual lay the key to true power. 

The world would leak in primordial energy occasionally. The ritual simply made summoned beings into focal points. Some summoned beings just happened to gain massive power from soaking in the blood of the worlds. Most of them were indoctrinated into the summoners' views and presented as "heroes" or were framed as the "enemy of the world" who attacked when the indoctrination failed. 

This strategy probably had varying degrees of success but apparently enough successes to make people believe it to be the hero summoning ritual. This modified version would attempt to siphon off the energy from the summoned. 

The groans of his sacrifices reached a volume that tore him away from his thoughts. "Shut up you hideous meat bags, be glad you will have an actual purpose to your otherwise meaningless lives!" Their groaning turned into outright yells and Jorn had to order a couple of them bludgeoned to regain the peace he enjoyed until moments ago. Ahh the suffering of lower beings always soothed him but they were obnoxious when they were too loud. Maybe he would look into to better ways of silencing them. Spells would be wasted on them though. A thought for another time. 

Jorn didn't appreciate the interruption but he needed to get started anyways, but he would still have to visit his toy room with any who survived. A dash of mana was all that was needed and the ritual began. Immediately screams were elicited from the sacrifices as they felt their very existences being consumed, and a bubble began to form in the center. This was what a hole between worlds looked like according to every record. Jorn had to look down at this point; he couldn't very well let himself go insane from foolishly looking directly. 

The deviations started from there. Instead of the leaking primordial energies forming a egg like shape around the bubble, the energy should be siphoned into the first test subject. At least in theory. Jorn kept an eye on his first subject through various medians but the expanding came without warning. 

Maybe he should have tried using the corpses of the past "heroes." Jorn haplessly laughed as he witnessed his life's work going critical. He turned his face towards the summoned but only caught a glimpse of them before the rebound hit him. The world smite him.


	2. A Routine

"Objection! That is not related to the case at hand."

"Your honor the jury needs to know the defendant's intent to fully evaluate the grievousness of the theft of the beer as a minor."

"Objection overruled. Please proceed." This was a teen court case that Jay was presiding over and this whole process had the defendant pleading guilty.

The process was for deciding the punishment and wasn't boding well for the defendant. The final 'case' of the day was about a teen who stole two whole packs of beer 30 each. Worse he wasn't the most empathetic individual. In the end the young jurors decided on 59 hours of community service and a letter to Walmart as the punishment.

Jay started out as an attorney and winning and even losing and learning through lawsuits had been fun; the depositions were especially exciting in extracting the answers he needed out of his opponents. The biggest enjoyment he had came from encountering various cases.

He still remembered some of the stories his father used to tell them. Apparently one time a client claimed to have no idea why he woke up with all the cars in the neighborhood going off with his car wrecked. He then later claimed that he had been attacked by a raccoon. In his high school days, he envisioned going from attorney to a position as Judge, believing pursuits in the sciences would be more manageable that way. Quickly, he had realized that Judges of good quality would have to pour through past cases for precedent and even the salary of the Supreme Court justices hadn't kept up with inflation. Still, he wanted to fulfill his dream of having actual power within his country beyond the materialism of the dollar. For all he knew he might decide to continue aiming higher. Coming home to a dark and messy house was a little depressing as usual.

Jay woke up in sync with when his alarm usually went off and remembered he had an off week specifically for forging swords. But habits good and bad didn't disappear easily he reckoned as he trudged to his closet. He changed into a pair of athletic shorts and tank top before leaving the house, a single story red brick home with many windows. The neighborhood was dark and quiet which may be even eerie to some but Jay found the peace soothing.

He recalled which houses were owned by whom as he ran by, a routine for maintaining a good name by taking note of everyone and their names. This was one of many essential actions if he wanted to get the attention of the heads of his political party to be appointed to a higher position as a judge. Jay took his usual route, a 10 mile circuit, and ended back home drenched but satisfied at a good run and did a quick push up regime. He would have to compliment Mr. Haywood on his yard since he seemed to have put more effort in its maintenance and provide other similar lip service to people upon greeting them.

After becoming presentable, Jay reminisced when he stood in front of his car. Trying to get his driver's license and failing formed into a large source of anxiety as a teen. He took several tries than normal making himself think himself wholly inadequate. Jay even went as far as to almost despair at ever achieving anything substantial. Luckily he managed pull through and manifest as he was now. He snorted at his own thoughts and wondered why he even went down memory lane. He concluded that the reason was that he was fulfilling a dream from those years.

Jay consulted his navigation app before starting the car; he didn't possess much sense in navigating beyond his area and the sword smith he had an appointment with lived several cities away. After giving one final glance at his route, Jay was on his way.

Without any incidents alongside the way, Jay pulled up into the garage the sword smith had set aside for guests. Jay had to look semi-presentable because this swordsmith was also a Youtuber and planned to take video of the whole process.

"Hey Alex Steele. I am the one who requested to make a pair of swords. I believe you wanted to me to also go over laws concerning swords?"

"Yeah! Aren't you a judge now? Oh well more views probably. Let's get started! ... well after we go over some things of course." A blond man with grey eyes whipped his head around so fast Jay was afraid that it would have flown off if not attached his neck. And it looked like he was heating up the forge?

"First do we need to go over standard procedure?"

"No I don't believe so, I have been watching your posts so I believe I know them."

Upon request for demonstrated, Jay essentially rattled off, but with practiced professionalism, the list of rules Alex had set for himself going on to listing the legalities of possessing swords.

"... First of all, you can't carry swords on your person in public since they are considered as knives surpassing the legal length limit by the law unless as ceremony..."

"Ok! So what do you want to make in particular? A pair of damascus steel swords?"

"I liked to see the forging of those kinds of swords but I want to forge high carbon steel swords instead so I can claim maximum functionality."

Jay saw Alex's disappointment clearly but he would not budge in this. After all, he was a paying customer.

"Ok then, let us crack on to the forging!"

The forge already glowed with heat and Alex cut two portions of the desired steel. The initial stage kept simplicity, only requiring holding the heated steel under a power hammer.

After the third day, Jay decided he would have to eat his words. He couldn't recall the last time he felt so exhausted and filthy. Oh wait every football practice in high school. Ugh more bittersweet memories Jay thought; he did get some sacks but he never managed to become a true starter. Alex found a major mistake in the folds of the first blade, so they had to restart one.

Finally, on the beginning of the 7th and final day before Jay would have had to defer on this specific dream both swords were completed with the blades sheathed in airtight leather. At first glance they might have been mistaken as katanas, sheathed; however, they weren't single edged and nor were they single edged. The European styled blade and Japanese aesthetics clashed a bit, especially the abnormal hilts, but they represented Jay's nature and he liked that. They were his with hilts built to be used. Jay smirked at the thought feeling silly since these would remain as art on top of his fireplace. With a brief goodbye, Jay headed home. He felt closer to making his daily greetings authentic with how much more fulfilled he felt in life.

He was flying down the road when in a flash of light he found himself colliding with a wall still going seventy miles per hour. Almost as if he had been teleported? Inertia and all maintained? Damn he was feeling woozy, was he going to die? The last thing Jay saw before slipping into unconsciousness was a maniacal grin. Shit was he a light novel protagonist? Hey maybe he won't die then...?


	3. Speculation

Jay reasoned that waking up in a stone cell might not be the worst thing that could happen. After all, many people have simply never even woke up again after collision injuries. But then again waking up in the captivity of a crazed maniac had a potential to get plenty worse. He hoped it was simply a first impression but the brief glance he had of a ritual room was kind of a deal breaker in that regard.

Jay almost let out a groan when the possibility of the him being in another world came to mind. There were plenty of possibilities; he remembered how a fictional human trafficking cartel had set up their base to make it seem to the kids, the victims, were on another planet to crush any sense of hope for escape although the lie was discovered it was pretty effective prior to that. Similarly these bastards could be trying a similar tactic.

The reason why Jay didn't immediately dismiss the possibility of being in another world is that in top the theory of unpredictability existing and he didn't want end up like the protagonist of the series called the unbeliever. Almost the whole time while the protagonist witnessed incredible things, he proceeded like everything was fake. He had valid reasoning like how he was completely free of leprosy which he had been plagued with in his original world and other things, but Jay felt like things would go rather horribly for him if he made the same mistake.

Having all this time to contemplate circumstances seemed suspicious also. Jay thought his jailers would have tried achieving whatever their motives were with him when he woke up, the time he was most disoriented. And the less conventional things seemed, the more Jay became worried. Actually being in another world would be the worst case scenario, since that would mean "magic" was used to bring him here. The existence of magic brought with it convenience to the elites that made most innovations unnecessary and therefore almost always meant the society developed around it would either be Utopian or a feudal society. Seeing the dark stone walls around him, Jay bet that the latter would be more likely.

Living in a feudal society would be horrendous, Jay thought. Not only could dysentery potentially kill him, the superstitions could lead to his lynching depending on how well he could 'do as the romans do.' And seeing how at the very least some magic required space, it seemed likely the elite and powerful would still be the landed aristocracy with simply the fact they were capable of feats of magic. Which would make living conditions horrible depending on whether the peasants tried revolting yet. He didn't even touch on the possibility of slavery.

Jay began almost hoping for anyone to come. Sitting in dim lighting with all these thoughts bouncing around his head was certainly not healthy for him. Finally the sound of footsteps reached him so he readied the pile of sand dust he gathered.

"Se ug axalo axawaxako."

The second the door swung open, Jay was upon his captor. Or at least he tried to attack. An invisible barrier kept his kidnapper out of reach. Worst case scenario it was, Jay thought. With a swipe of their hand, he was sent crashing into the wall behind him.

"Pe ug uctolchaxact vo?"

Jay realized he had another issue. He couldn't understand the language being spoken.

"Usoropt imwit je waxaupp pit civirizow dolsen weurdniz gned zo cemmen raxackuaxago!"

Jay found himself taking a barrage of phantom blows, and all he could do was curl into a fetal position. A small part of him remarked on his hard luck with getting a worst case scenario; the rest of him was wracked with pain. Jay began to feel hazy and the fury he believed he buried came roaring up.

All he ever did was work and work and he just finally grabbed a hold of his dream and this curve ball was thrown at him? He always felt trapped in the wholly inefficient system known as society; the whole thing was built on lies and subterfuge and he simply wanted to secure a place on the frontier of knowledge!

"Ug axalo keick te fo pit toch sufjond enrupp!"

Jay rose to sounds of commotion. He couldn't recall the exact moment he lost consciousness, but he must have done so because he found himself lying in the corner of the cell. A dull metal tray was laid in front of him with a cup of ... beer and a lump of ... bread? Ah further proof of a feudal era. With a huff Jay shoved down the unfortunate excuse of bread and watered it down with the ... He couldn't call it anything other than swill and almost coughed up everything.

Unnatural howls accompanied by shouts rang out in the distance, filling Jay with fear but also a sense of hope. He might have a chance at escape, he could also be doomed to becoming food but he didn't ponder about that for long. The shouts and howls died down until the final howl turned into a yelp and the shout a singular yell of triumph.

With a tortured screech, the cell door was torn out, and in walked in an ... elf?

"Pe ug uctolchaxact vo?"

She had pointed ears to go along with an entirely too perfect beauty with absolute symmetry. Caught in a daze Jay didn't notice the elf's proximity until they had their hands on his temple.

[Wakarimasuka? Puedes entender? Do you understand?]

A musical voice rang out in jay's head; startled he pushed away the elf.

[I have no intentions to hurt you, but I need your consent to cast a spell on you. It should help you understand the common tongue and be able to communicate. Right now I don't know what language I am speaking; I caught that I started out with two other languages but that is just the effects of the spell I am using.]

Jay nodded his head mechanically; he wasn't sure what else to do, but found himself in a strange void the next moment. Various sounds were assaulting him slowly taking form into a language, but one inconsistent sound rang out. Curious, Jay followed it to its source only to assaulted by a much more musical set of sounds.

[An otherworlder! The last one brought devastation upon the world!]

Various vines started to encircle Jay and that didn't seem to be a good sign, but conveniently he found the two swords he forged recently in his hands. His first sword didn't connect but his second slash sliced through vines cleanly. With no end to the vines in sight, Jay rushed towards the direction of what seemed to be the source.

Jay broke into a clearing after what seemed an eternity. Various foreign thoughts came to him in a jumbled mess, and he struggled to make sense of it.

[You will end here!]

A barrage of vines came from all around and Jay fought as much as he could but within seconds a vine found his legs. In a panic Jay stabbed into the ground to maintain his balance. Everything in sight flickered out of existence, and he found himself collapsed on the ground, the two swords cast to the side.

Jay didn't have to check the elf's pulse; he recognized the glassy eyed look his father had when he was found dead on the couch. He curled up into a ball before the first shudders hit.


	4. First Settlement

The elf would forever haunt him but Jay knew he couldn't afford to waste time. For all he knew another contingent of something could be coming. But ... he would deal with his regret later and like usual he shoved his emotions into a box to set aside.

From what he heard from the elf, it sounded like otherworlders like him were greatly feared so he needed look as close to a local as possible. Taking inventory of everything was almost back-breaking, literally. One of the maces had to have weighed more than a ton but Jay noticed so almost too late. About a hundred corpses give or take laid scattered about the complex with almost 15 grotesque dead animals each, and every one of them had a pouch of money and rations along with a change of clothes.

Jay struggled to not look too long at the corpses. One of them had their heads cracked open with the grey matter spilling out while another had his entrails strewn about him from what seemed to be large bite taken out of him. The smell indicated that the rotting and decay had already started. Jay coughed up everything in his stomach at this sight. Scowling at the wasted food he replenished himself on appropriated rations, much better than the excuse of a breakfast he had. Kind of like the meal biscuits back home strangely enough.

Jay pulled on the clothes and leather armor of a man who was closest to his size probably a woodsman, and strapped on a pack he found after he ripped off an insignia he found embroidered in it. Hopefully these guys were Spartan or Jay was in trouble; he would find out soon when he met the nearest local. He strapped on his swords with new sheathes, the only memento he could keep, and was set. The original sheaths were no where to be found.

Getting out was simply enough because there was a gigantic hole leading outside. Must have been the way his inadvertent rescuers had forced entry. When Jay climbed outside he found himself in a wilderness. He thought if the person who kidnapped him was living underground so maybe this world wasn't the worst if they had to live in hiding. Jay couldn't help but feel lucky that the worse he experienced was a beating. Jay decided not to get his hopes up. He did have the good fortune to find a well-worn trail in front of him though and it was early in the morning.

Following the trail was a surprisingly pleasant experience. All the vicious creatures must have been called on to defend the lair, because the walk in the woods was peaceful and refreshing. A deer rushed off with speed that seemed to break the sound barrier but otherwise everything was pleasant. What to do though? He was pretty sure he botched his chance at magically learning the language. He would stand out as a sore thumb if he didn't do anything.

Lost in thought Jay almost didn't notice the screaming. Now Jay was a self-proclaimed selfish bastard privately. He came to admit this after some introspection. He couldn't understand why so many people had bleeding hearts but simply did as was the norm back in America. But this instance might be a chance to put a local in his debt, so he rushed forward towards the cries.

What he found was a young boy with a stick swiping at a pair of growling wolves. The boy was a sniveling mess but did his best to keep the beasts away. Hmm he wasn't good enough to handle two swords at the same time so a slash to the first wolf and then a blow with his fist to the second one then a second strike with his sword.

Jay pulled one his blades out, only the wolf must have noticed this because it suddenly locked on to him the next split second and charged. Jay barely had the time to point the tip down towards the wolf, but barely was enough. The mangy animal found itself skewered on Jay's sword. The second wolf got a knuckle sandwich then a sword stuck in the neck as planned ... but a third wolf sneaked up on him. A small part of him mused on the unusual intelligence of these animals but the rest of him was astonished to see time seem to slow down. Jay took a step to steady himself from the attack he took from his back, drew his other sword and buried it in the third wolf.

The boy happily exclaimed his gratitude in what sounded like plain English.

"Is something wrong?"

Jay shook himself out of his reverie at the two surprises and simply decided to chalk it up to luck of the draw for now at least. Those three wolves were probably the last of threats, no at least immediate in the forest.

"Nothing kid. Do you live close here?"

"I am not a kid! I am Jax and 15 uouso old you know! Besides you don't look much older yourself! Why do you want to know about where I live?"

Great so the calendar is also different Jay thought. And WHAT! He should look at least in his 20s. Meh spreading his real name might be dangerous.

"Just a wanderer named Jack looking for the nearest settlement."

"Ok. I'll help you get there! Live there anyways."

Jay quickly realized he didn't need a guide since they were following the trail he found from before but still followed the kid anyway. Jax kept on sneaking glances behind at him making Jay a little annoyed.

"What is with all the staring?"

"I just never saw someone so pale!"

Oh shit! Now that he looked closely Jax was indeed a couple shades darker than him, looks like his clothing is not out of the norm.

"I am from the north; came down here for the warmth."

"Well ok. Here is the village!"

There was a wooden palisade stretched around the settlement. It was so large it must have also included the fields. Jay mused that the village should be able grow a whole lot more now that the external threats were rotting in a hole a couple miles away.

"Well come on! Washing ouoso down the river!"

Well how would he introduce himself? Damn he should have thought about this instead pondering about senseless things! His name should be fine, so maybe just proclaim himself a wanderer? Hopefully that didn't have too terrible of a connotation. Sounds of commotion came from behind the gate.

"Who is with you Jax?"

"A wanderer from up north named Jack. He saved me from a wolf attack so I think we should at least repay him by considering whatever he has to say."

"Fine. Step aside then. How many times have you gone in and out of here? You should know how this gate opens."

The wooden gate groaned as it opened revealing a crowd of people holding farm tools at the ready. The sight instilled in me a sharp fear of being lynched by a mob. Luckily an aged man pushed through to gestured for them to follow. Jax rushed to follow so Jay followed suit.

"I hear you saved Jax from a wolf so first I must thank you. I hear you have something to say?"

"How should I refer to you sir?"

"Just call me Elder"

"Well Elder to tell the truth Jax simply made that assumption but I do indeed have a suggestion to make along with a request to stay with your village a while to get my bearings before moving on. I have been wandering ever since I left the north and am not sure where to go."

"Well go on make your suggestion."

"I recently found the aftermath of a fight that must have destroyed the source of the threats you kept out with this wall around your village. I think it was a magic user who twisted the animals into ferocious watch dogs but now they are all dead with no survivors. I think its a massive chance at expansion and I hope to help with this in exchange for a place to stay for a while."

"Well we don't usually accept outsiders, but if what you say is indeed true then this is good fortune. What about the opponents of the magic user? I plan to have a hunter go confirm what you say. For now you may stay at Jax's place with his family; I am sure they will be more than will to pay you back."

"Oh Elder I almost forgot. All the combatants of the opponents of the magic user were loaded with money."

"I take it you are referring to gold in a strange way but I will make sure to send more than one hunter. Now go with Jax."

Jay could tell he had been dismissed and followed Jax.


	5. Crazy Crone

Jay didn't expect proper houses after he saw the palisade, at most maybe one for the highest authority. He could tell he was wrong even in the dark of night. Must have been courtesy of whatever hedge wizard like person this village had, but there was not a single run down hut in sight. So when he followed Jax he anticipated a similarly high quality building; it was the second time he was wrong.

"Jax can I ask why your family has what seems to be the worst dwelling in the village?"

"Well we don't have the worst! Seran, the village drunkard, has an even worse dwelling. The only reason why he hasn't been run out of the village is because he has fun stories!"

"You know what I mean."

Jax visibly deflated.

"My father died of a strange illness." Jay motioned for him to continue. "If it was just the village would be fine supporting us, but me and my mother don't have enough mana to pay."

"What does mana have to do with anything?"

"The village mage takes mana as payment. My little sisters may have mana but they aren't old enough for mana to be safely taken from them."

"Why doesn't anyone volunteer?"

"No one wants to put themselves in danger of mana deficiency. Every year the tax collector comes to gather a mana tax from the village, because it's a set quota people already have to make up for me being dead weight. Mage Silvia offered to repair the house for free, but I didn't want to strain her since the lion share of the tax would be taken from her."

"That sounds unfortunate."

The interior wasn't as terrible as the exterior would suggest. They had a kitchen and dining room along with what seemed to be a room for socializing. The three closed doors must have been bed rooms.

"Sorry my mother has been bed ridden for a while so she won't be able to help."

"Wait did you say bed ridden?"

"Yes why do you ask?"

"Come on haven't you heard of people catching sicknesses from others?"

"Well mom has the common cold so it shouldn't be a problem."

"But I am not from around here! For all I know that sickness could end up lethal to me!'

Before Jax could have a chance to offer a retort, "Jax who is making that racket?!"

"Mom this person is a northerner named Jack who saved me from a wolf and the elder decided we would shelter him for a while as compensation, but he is worrying about catching your cold being deadly for him."

"Well people up north must have been in constant fear of sickness because of how brutal it is up there. Jack how old are you?"

"Around your son's age mam, so around 15 ousos as you call it here."

"That's a funny way of referring to me; just call me Mrs. Denns. I am sure you will be fine since you're young."

As Jack thought, patriarchy was the norm based on how the translation magic translated what he heard into something he recognized. He would have to hold his peace if he didn't want to risk being lynched xenophobes.

"Ok Mrs. Denns. I will be staying for a while but will be helping make the village expand."

"Well ok." Jax's mother simply accepted what he had to say and went back to her room.

Jay hoped this didn't signify what he thought what he thought it did. Well when in Rome do as the romans do, for now.

"Well Jack I guess we are roomies!"

Jay almost face palmed.

"Why do you have two swords?"

"Oh these? I made them. As wanderer you can meet lots of strange folk. And a strange blacksmith was one of them. I learned under him for a while and managed to make these."

"Cool. Good night Jack."

Jay tossed in turned for a while but soon he was asleep.

Jay got up in the morning before Jax to his astonishment. He figured rural life started early in the morning. Then again Jay was used getting up long before sunrise so maybe that is why.

Shaking him, "Hey Jax shouldn't we get up?"

"It's fine; go back to bed."

Not being able to go back to sleep, Jay slipped outside. The village was almost ghostly in how quiet it was. Confirmed that Jax wasn't actually being lazy, but he might as well keep in the habit of running Jay thought. He went back inside to grab his swords before heading out.

Jay couldn't put his finger on what exactly made the quiet of the village unsettling to him. It could be the fact it was surrounded by forest but Jay didn't think that was it. Deciding it was pointless to ponder on Jay hunkered down to run.

Jay was in middle school when he really began running. He wasn't the fastest by any stretch of the truth but that precisely was what lit a flame in the desire to be faster than everyone else. Unfortunately he didn't understand that endurance running wasn't the answer. By one reason or another Jay's time was wound back all the way back to a little under 14 years old, so he intended to rectify this mistake.

Jay never had the best sense of time but even he eventually noticed that he was being able to sprint way too long. He could have sworn he was somehow managing to maintain a dead sprint for a whole two minutes. Maybe mana was boosting him somehow?

"You're doing it all wrong!" along with the admonishment a stick was held right in front of his feet. Jay braced himself for the mouthful of dirt; but, once more, for a second time itself seemed to slow or maybe it was his perception of time? Anyways he was able to stop his descent.

"A little bit above average reflexes for an amateur, but what is with your mana intake? It's all over the place!" An old lady sitting on her porch seemed to be the culprit.

"No one back home could teach me." Jay caught his breath. "It's sort of the reason why I decided to wander. I take it you're the Mage named Silvia?" Jay hoped this maniac would buy it.

"Not sure how that's possible but here you somehow having braved the distance from the north. That's simply my mage moniker. Do you even know how to use those?" The nosy crone jabbed towards my swords.

"What does that matter to you?"

"Well you seem to have neglected taking care of one of your swords but otherwise those seem like of excellent quality. Maybe you will manage to get Seran to teach you someday."

Shit he forgot to wash off the blood from the wolves; he even had tools he lifted from those corpses. "Wait I thought he was the village drunk?

"Oh you're hearing things from Jax are you? Well he isn't completely wrong, but the whole story is for Seran to tell, just make sure not to dismiss him as a threat. If you want to learn how to intake mana properly, then come see me tomorrow. I need to set up things for beginners."

And with that the crazy lady was gone. Jay could feel a headache coming. It was simply early morning and this happened. He just knew the rest of the day was going to be uniquely interesting.


	6. A Dystopic Feudal Era

Jay regretted offering to help expand the village. Maybe it was due to mana, but the trees were several times more durable than what they should be.

"Jax if everything is so damn hard to take apart, then how is your house even close to breaking down?"

"Oh this is Halfy wood, and it sucks up and stores the mana around it abnormally well. Davel Halfy theorized its due to the large leaves but who cares. It makes for the best wood, but it loses its characteristics without maintenance."

"Ok."

Jay must have lost something through the translation; he needed to learn the language himself somehow. Then again should he risk Mage Silvia rummaging around his memories? Who knows maybe that was simply the style of the elves?

"Hey Jax do you know anything about magic?"

"Not much; only that it can strengthen things and monsters form near lots of mana. Go ask Mage Silvia if you have questions.

Jay should have expected that response but that put him in a bit of a snag. Based on Jax's response, very little about magic was known by common folk. Wait monsters?! Huh then the psycho might not have twisted his guard dogs himself. Why didn't other fauna and even the flora like the trees attack him then? Jay concluded that maybe the mana simply amplified pre-existing tendencies to the extreme, and so maybe the psycho actually did mess with his dogs. Jay did recall a deer fleeing at what seemed to be an impossible speed when he snapped a twig.

Cutting down just one tree took half the day, and Jay knew his muscles were powered up by the mana. He mused that it would have been a nightmare to try taking this down back on Earth.

The foreman called for a food break, and many let out groans of relief. This was back breaking labor for everyone it seemed.

"Thank you very much foreman. May I know how I should refer to you?

"Oh just call me Genks. You are a lot less hopeless than some of the knuckleheads around here so I should be the one thanking you."

"You flatter me Genks."

"Well go and eat."

The ration for those working to expand the village was a simple fare. The chef scooped out a helping of stew and poured Jay a cup of water.

"You filter your water right?"

"What do you mean? We get these from his lordship."

Ugh so a Tyrant who somehow even controls the water supply.

"Is the river water not safe?"

"Well anyone who tries drinking from even boiled water ends up sick somehow."

Lovely, at least dysentry wasn't an issue. Break time lasted about a quarter of an hour, and he was back to hacking at the bases of these absurd trees.

"Seems like it would be a normal routine to cut down these trees to sell, why isn't it Jax?"

"Oh well the King doesn't want to 'waste' resources on expanding the barrier to include more land, so we have to wait for the trees to grow back. His majesty is too busy at war with the other countries."

Jax's sarcasm was palpable.

"Shut it Jax or the Kingsmen might hear ya!"

"Shut up about that. They don't care about us frontier villages. Why do you suppose they don't even have a regiment stationed nearby us?"

"You don't know that and we don't want to risk it."

Jax fell silent to that.

"Why do you people live like this Jax?"

"I don't plan to; I will become an adventurer!"

"Do they not have any requirements to start?"

"No but they do have ranks. I suppose I will start out as rank E as most do."

Ah. That's how they kept the rowdy under control. They went off in search of freedom through the adventuring system and became satisfied that way. This world was looking to be more and more like a dystopia.

The rest of the day was spent in silence. Jay finally realized why he didn't like the morning quiet of the village; they were all living in fear. Man how was he going to pursue any of his passions, because even an attempt to gather more knowledge would make waves.

Dragging the lumber back was effortless thankfully. The wood might had been difficult to cut down, but it was surprisingly light to carry.

Jay wasn't sure whether to be excited or terrified to have Mage Silvia's help. Well if he rejected to meet her it could raise some eyebrows so he didn't have much of a choice. Why did she even call out to him though? It seemed to be normal to not know how to regulate your mana intake properly based on the fact that Jay was able to keep up with the villagers.

Figuring it was foolhardy to go to a potential fight without a weapon; Jay went and grabbed his swords. After a deep breath, Jay rapped the door.

"You're finally here. You know how long I've waited?"

"But I was…"

"No buts!" Mage Silvia cut him off.

"Well go on in!" She was pointing at a barrel filled with a strange black liquid.

The furniture was sparse but the gigantic calendar spread out on one wall took Jay's attention. It read 9/32/ ADW 118. Well that shows why he didn't hear the ousos as years.

"Well respectful Mage Silvia, thank you for your consideration, but no thank you."

"If you are talking about the elf you killed, then it is fine. They take past events way too seriously. I see you're an otherworlder, but I haven't told anyone."

"How do you know that?"

"Your thoughts get carried along with the mana you bleed out. Also you were basically a government official right? You enjoy stability, or maybe my assumption isn't quite true. Oh well. The reason why I called out to you is because as it stands you will die an early death if you don't regulate your mana intake. Now that I think of it how do you exist? Hmm it probably has something to how you were summoned?"

Jay thought for sure he was screwed when Mage Silvia mentioned his past, so he had unsheathed his swords. Yeah his new abilities probably came from that. Wait, an early death!?

"Oh put those away I made it clear that I intend no harm. Wait a second; let me see one of them."

Jay didn't even express his approval but she already grabbed one of his swords, on the blade. And like he expected her hands started bleeding.

"I suppose this would be something you would expect to happen, but you don't realize how powerful your swords are. How did you manage to fuse mana into your sword?"

Wait fuse mana with his sword? What was this lady talking about?

"I don't know what you are talking about but this is simply steel."

"What is steel? Wait … a combination of iron and carbon? Wait the solid form of mana had a use other than fuel for spells?! But that doesn't make any sense, wouldn't this had been discovered by now? Hmm … there is more than that though; is that a link?"

Jay almost didn't comprehend what Mage Silvia said. Wait that made him even more like a light novel protagonist. Where was his damn harem then?

"Oh those sneaky bastards, they silenced that part of the details of the research didn't they? Well as it stands you will be discovered and executed, so in exchange of teaching you are going to help me topple a kingdom."

Jay knew his day wasn't going to end peacefully.

"But first let me fix that fluency issue with the language. You need to understand this language to be a proper mage."

Jay blacked out.


	7. A teacher

9/32/ ADW 118

Jay didn't know what to expect when he woke up. He could have been played by Silvia or whatever her name was and in fact be on the way to his own execution. He didn't quite expect to wake up on the mage's lap though.

"Why am I on your lap?"

"Well I took a page from the women of this thing you called 'anime.' I thought it would at least put you in a fluster. I don't understand the appeal of 'anime' though. Their physiques are all unnatural!" Good thing she hadn't tried to make this seem maternal.

"Did you have to read my mind for that? It's sort of a guilty pleasure you know."

"Yeah I know about your 'fetishes' now. Besides that, who is the one who intended to cut me down?"

Jay had to admit that he had full intentions to silence her. Getting up slowly, he realized they were still in the same surroundings. A rather simple abode, only a more pristine version of Jax's house.

"Well now you will call me master, and I will be here to teach you everything I know. I know you think this would be too good to be true, but I am betting on the fact that you will eventually help me topple our tyrant. You have so many ideas in your head about how to go about it but it is too jumbled up. What exactly is a printing press?"

"Something you don't need to know yet."

Jay knew that the press was essential for freedom, but if he were to create it, then it would be like declaring his existence and therefore war upon the king. Would a revolution be worth it? Freedom might not even be a sure thing, not to mention what the responses of the other countries would be. The casualties would be massive.

"You don't need to ponder those kinds of things. Just learn from me go out and see with your own eyes whether or not a war would be worth it."

Jay decided to forgo giving his answer; she was in his head anyways.

"I am glad we have come to an agreement! I am repairing what the elf did to you. It is incomplete and would eventually lead to backlash that could even kill you. We will dispel in a month or two though probably."

Jay needed a break from surprises. Come on! That was basically kind of like a curse. Wait …

"Yes I am speaking English right now though I understand you have some fluency in … Japanese? That will be useful for analogies later."

Jay was really getting tired of having her in his head.

"You will get to have your privacy if you learn from me diligently. Now soak yourself in that barrel; we still need to teach you how to properly intake mana."

The liquid inside the barrel was a murky black so Jay still had misgivings at placing himself inside, but 'master' was watching, even thinking it was painful but Jay knew big brother was watching. The liquid was strangely hot and cold at the same time; in fact all its characteristics seemed to fluctuating. One second it had the smell of the fabled ambrosia, the next it seemed putrid enough to knock Jay out.

[Hold steady, if you mess up, then you might be crippled for the rest of your life. Now breathe in along with me. Slowly: 1 … 2 … 3.]

Somehow master was talking while breathing, most likely a spell. Scratch that, it was definitely a spell.

[Huh your connection with your swords seems to grounding you somehow. Doesn't matter much right now. Try to reach into yourself towards your center. Yes actually exactly like how when you lock away emotions. Hmm what an unusually angry person, might be problematic when you try to use healing spells.]

When Jay visited the mental image of his emotions for the second time, its unusual realness finally dawned on him. He had always imaged putting away ugly emotions in boxes so he could burn through them almost like fuel for his running. But this never reached the level of realness like now. He could actually see the box of emotions concerning killing the elf floating around lethargically. Jay pushed by the box, moving towards what seemed to be a core?

[Yes it's almost exactly like those cores from xanxia. In fact I guess this world itself is almost identical to many of the novels you have read. Maybe you have maybe you haven't noticed, but the black 'nothingness' surrounding you is actually made up of particles and not actually nothingness. Huh so you would refer to this stuff as particles? Well try gathering some in your hands.]

Jay did as suggested and the black material turned out spongy. Huh, master did come to the conclusion that mana in her world was what carbon was in his. The potentials got his heart racing.

[Now you should realize that this black stuff is what you are submerged in currently right now. You could go further and actually reach into your inner core, but now I want you to notice the main current and follow it along.]

Jay followed the current but it split into a seemingly infinite number, but he was keeping up somehow. Then … ah the branches numbered about 480 million give or take. Now where did he see that number before? Oh he was looking at his lungs.

[Yes you are looking at your 'lungs' right now. You should notice that some of your … 'alveoli' are strained. That is from you running without paying attention to your intake. Most don't apply themselves to the Valerculean task of micro-managing all 480 million but eventually it will be a subconscious thing even in battle. Fortunately everything else is what you would call automatic. You already can monitor them simultaneously, so it's a start. Some only have only partial success in that. Doesn't sound like you would have this ability considering your home world though. Maybe this has something to do with the summoning ritual that was used to bring you to this world? That's all I wanted you to realize; rather perceptive aren't you? I expected this to take much longer. Now go back up to your core to exit.]

Jay did as master suggested, or at least tried to. The third time he touched the box, it outright shattered. Maybe it was because those emotions were concentrated or they were just that much intense, he didn't know; anyways two new currents formed.

[Jay what did you do? What in Jadry's blasted name?]

Jay couldn't see or hear what was happening that kept master, but he couldn't let these two currents go wild for long. What was something that could behave like a wave but could be physically dealt with by hand? Certainly not light, nor, water, wait what about hoses? Mentally imaging hoses around the currents, Jay flicked them out straight. The wildness seemed to be expelled outwards, but otherwise seemed to work otherwise. Jay went back to his center to rise back to the waking world. What awaited him was carnage with his bared swords at the center, scraps of the scabbards he appropriated hanging off.

"Boy it's my fault that I didn't realize your swords were in fact connected to your core but you really made a mess of my house didn't you? Now I only have half a year to teach you! Once we got your mana intake under control I thought we might be able to hide you, but there is no way they aren't going to notice the mana scars from today. Ugh!"

As if on cue, another piece of the rafter broke off and made a loud thump on the floor.


	8. Laftus

9/30/ ADW 118

All was quiet in the night. As usual not much happened at an almost ungodly hour, if one couldn't perceive the mana field. It was almost as though a massive meteor struck it. Unbeknownst to anyone, something awakened deep within the Haflen caves.

9/31/ ADW 118

Soft moans reverberated in a dark but spacious room and only silhouettes could be seen. A knock at the double doors interrupted. With a growl Laftus got up, pulling away from the random servant girl he grabbed.

"This better be urgent! Or someone is losing their position!"

"Well sire you told us to alert you if the prophecy seemed gain even an inkling of accuracy."

"A fluctuation was detected then?"

"Yes sire."

"Give me the details."

...

"Both of you, leave me." Laftus dismissed both the messenger and the girl. He needed to think.

Huh so he came Laftus thought. He originally had no interest in conquering other kingdoms because not only would it had been costly since every fool who claimed kingship had access to their own Machina Regiis, but Laftus just wasn't interested. Besides everything in the history books one of the otherworlders brought emphasized that getting too large caused problems for countries. Maybe he shouldn't have read them, who was that 'american' author? Oh yes 'Mark Twain.' Didn't he assert that with confidence and ignorance success was assured? Probably a misread or loss of meaning in translation though.

However with an otherworlder arriving... Well Laftus couldn't very well tolerate the status quo crumbling. When an otherworlder came the reign of the gods ended after all. Each and every time an otherworlder came chaos of some sort came about. Ugh he would actually have to start conquering places now.

Laftus decided he had pondered enough. First order tomorrow would be to make a complete survey of his resources, well after his dosage of mana of course. Sleep took a while to come.

9/32/ ADW 118

Laftus got up and got dressed by himself and this astonished everyone. Usually he would let the servants do everything. The castle was abuzz with gossip, and Laftus was satisfied to see that no one was aware of the true reason why he changed, looked like he had some loyal servants. They would be rewarded.

Like usual he absorbed the prepared amount of mana for today. People couldn't just simply ingest another person's mana, because the person they took it from would still have control over the mana. In fact there were reports of people trying to use this fact to try to kill him. They were always stopped before they even got close enough to hypothetically use their mana within Laftus to kill him. But the venture would forever be hopeless.

The machina regiis somehow managed to render control over the mana as different while still owned by the people the mana came from. Many discoveries were made from simply observing how it functioned employing imitations of this effect.

This was probably one of the most tightly kept secrets but this was the key to immortality. Mana made all things possible with sufficient enough power, and it seemed that since the body's desire was to continue to exist the mana gained was employed to this end. The fact that this effectively allowed him to take control of all his citizens effectively made him a god if still a mortal one. One of his descendants would achieve true godhood.

For now Laftus got to enjoy the immense power of holding mana from his people in his hand. Every 'king' did this, it was sort of the race that started under the otherworlder's nose once he had toppled the gods and naïvely tried to distribute all the information. Rumor had it that he was still around, simply imprisoned. Laftus hoped not.

Like usual Laftus's general seemed to have a perpetual scowl on his face.

"Well have you decided to finally actually get off your ass? Maybe even actually restart training?"

"Yes actually my good general, but for now I want the details of my army."

"What happened to you, did screwing with servant girls and throwing massive parties no longer satisfy you?"

"You know those were never satisfying. We must have further discussion in the War room."

"Don't want prying eyes do you, sire?"

Laftus and General Nagata stepped into a blue chamber. Apparently a past ancestor decided blue was a good color for planning war, but that wasn't what they were there for. This was one of the four rooms with the upmost anti-divination wards. New ways of magical espionage was discovered everyday and his room and study, the ritual room, and the war room were kept updated against these.

"So sire, what is the big deal?"

"An otherworlder has arrived to our world, and one that came from the god slayer's one at that."

"Seriously?! You and I both thought prophecies are hogwash. The gods are mere remnants of what they once were and everyone knows that they usually word their prophecies to their benefit. So not only do the prophecies probably hide things but they are no longer far reaching as before."

"That is probably why the prophecy concerning us is so vague. It simply speaks of a harbinger of change coming to our world within this month. Kaftaras's balls I thought we were in the clear since today was the last day of the month. Should have known though."

Both Laftus and Nagata fell silent.

"So you intend to ally, conquer, or otherwise create enough unity to oppose this otherworlder correct?"

"Yes. But I am going to have to leave the country eventually if we are unlucky enough to be the starting point of this 'harbinger' because chances are high that they will have some absurd advantage from being summoned through the primordial energies that separate worlds. If I were to have my rivers poisoned then maybe the solution would simple. But kings who do that have a nasty habit of being overthrown or conquered by wiser ones who realize an oppressed people does not make for a powerful kingdom."

"Sire I believe you are very wise to have discontinued that practice."

"Stop flattering me. Lets get on to business; who is most likely to ally with us given this information?"

"Well sire, I believe Queen Lisaya has been sugesting marriage for a while now. You should know she is quite considered quite fetching."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I will marry her. I guess my life as an eternal 'bachelor' is over. I am going to be pretty upset if I lose against this otherworlder. Who else?"

"Well King Jerom has been suggesting a joint-expedition into the wilds, so he may be open for cooperation."

"Ugh that fool doesn't realize that unregulated population growth could be the end of our power. Oh well looks like we are in for a war so might as well cooperate with him. Get me my speech coordinator; I plan on lifting the restriction on birth rates. Alert my spymaster to have everything he has to be compiled into one report. Get me my writing coordinator also, I need to alert the Jerom and Lisaya of this matter or they may might take a mustering of troops as preparation to conquer them. Oh and Nagata..."

Laftus's voice took a darker tone, "make sure you don't let slip what was said here, at least not yet. Silence is required at least until a messenger can get the messages across."

He hurried to his study room; there was no time to lose after all. Who knew whether a moment wasted might lead to his defeat? Hmm... maybe he should take things not too frantically; the otherworlder still had to get their bearings after all. Laftus never felt more alive though! A slow jog lead him to double doors colored a rich mahogany. His speech and writing coordinators were already there.

"My apologies Baron Yevin, on second thought I won't need your services with writing quite yet. For now I will just work on a speech."

Baron Yevin bowed before leaving. He must have sensed the barest of edges in Laftus's voice. He was going to have to up the wages of everyone loyal. A mandatum would root out any of the disloyal but actual resources were needed to reward people; luckily he would get a hold of plenty soon.

"Now Baron Galta, I simply need to tell my people that they no longer have the two children restriction anymore but I want to frame it as due to plans to conquer the wilds."

"Very well sire. I suggest to start with a booming voice in congratulatory tone as sire would know, but be careful to..."

Laftus almost sighed. He had so much fun living decadently though.


	9. A secret

10/01/ ADW 118

_Jay's eyes opened to a white ceiling. It wasn't the cleanest white, but it was a familiar white. Morning used to be a slow business but Jay dealt with it a lot better now. He simply got up earlier to give himself more time, still hated it though._

_Breakfast was sunny side eggs as usual. He turned to his mom to thank her for the food…_

Jay woke up tearing up; he never got to say good bye that day. The ceiling he saw now was Jax's, a dark dirty brown. He shook his head as though to shake away the sadness.

Master's house was destroyed so they were both staying at Jax's. Mage Silvia had a house seed to build another but completion would take a day at least.

Jay supposed he should get back to stabilizing his mana intake. He was already coached in how to reach his core, so he might as well try to get some progress on his own. He simply had to reach inside himself, easy enough. Should have been at least. Without soaking in the barrel Jay took five tries before he successfully reached his core.

From how he was connected to the swords, Jay could pull and release mana through them almost like limbs, but they constantly leaked mana so sheathes were crafted from mana wood as a solution. Normally the insulatory effects of the wood would be lost when cut down but they could stay fresh from absorbing mana from Jay's swords. He would have to be careful to not send surges down his swords though.

Master told him properly regulating his mana intake would naturally lead him to realize how he was passing along thoughts in his mana, but he had no luck so far. Probably something that would only be apparent once he practically perfected his regulation. Giving up, Jay fell on his back. Today he would finally get some answers. Like why the year was ADW 118. Had to learn the language properly to use magic apparently according to what Silvia said right before she knocked him out before. Who knew? Maybe the 'common language' was an altered form of the 'magic language,' from how weird the written form looked.

[You are correct. The common language is indeed an altered form of the language of magic. I thought I told you to consider me as your master? Come outside.]

Jay couldn't wait for when he managed to regain his privacy.

A surreal sight was set up right outside. Almost straight out of a classroom, a white board and rows of chairs were set up. Even a couple kids from the village were gathered.

[Well I thought my favorite student would like company.]

[What about the fact that I probably don't know things any native to this world would probably know?]

[You're fine. You came from the north and also happen to look like a kid. I will start in 5 minutes, go get to know some of these kids.]

Jay wanted to retort but he thought it pointless. He scanned the crowd for Jax figuring he should start with someone he knew and go from there. Ahh Jax was apparently relatively tall because his head stuck out above most.

"Hello Jax I am gonna hang out with you a bit. Can you introduce me to some of your friends?"

"Sure Jack. Hey guys this is the dude who saved me from the 10 wolves."

Huh Jax must have messed with the story to make himself look better. Maybe he could salvage it.

"Was it actually that many wolves?"

"Well the wolves were certainly cunning, they almost got me."

"How cool! But were there 10 wolves?"

"... not when I got there."

Not wanting to antagonize a potential ally, Jay quickly amended, "but the other 7 might had been drawn away by a mage for a fight. I only saw the aftermath but there were easily over a thousand wolves. Jax, you thought I was the one who drew away those wolves right?"

"Yeah."

He could see some doubt in their eyes but otherwise they were brimming with excitement. Well what he said wasn't a lie, it was speculation that could actually be true. Still unpleasant though. Everyone seemed to be at rapt attention to his description of the fight; it was rather exciting with all said and done. Jay wondered how many others would join with Jax with the same intentions for adventure. He probably would do the same though so he could actually see how things were.

They spent time getting to know each other. Standard things like likes and dislikes. Jay had forgotten how much more pure children were compared to adults. If only people could keep that, at the very least a sense of wonder would probably help.

Jafta and Jefus wouldn't shut up about food; Gina seemed to want to be a warrior since she pestered for the details of the fight; Jax simply listened to everyone; Dakus remained skeptical and also asked for the details; everyone else listened just like Jax.

[Oh I forgot to mention that you aren't my only mage trainee.]

Wait didn't that mean that some of these kids were hearing his thoughts? Oh come on!

"Kids I am going to start so get seated. I plan on furthering your education."

Jefus blurted out, "is that something delicious?"

Not losing a step, master replied, "it could help you get more delicious things, but stop joking Jefus. Let me start with one question: do any of you know what the ADW of ADW 118 stands for?"

Dakus's hand shot up. "Well it stands for After the Divinity War. Year 0 is the year the otherworlder successfully toppled the gods."

"Very good Dakus. Everyone should read like him." Jay would have to find out where the library is.

That explains why the elf wanted his death. Jay didn't really pay much attention after that, didn't need to. He caught how there were 12 kingdoms on the continent but it was quickly apparent that this was simply an overview. The gist was that these kingdoms had been various states of hostility ever since the age of the gods ended. Apparently the gods were rather destructive so not many records survived, basically. Master lengthened explaining this with pretty illusions, probably to grab more attention.

Jay was more interested in gauging what kinds of people he was surrounded with. They were all already literate so they would actually have interesting quirks. He was worried about the implications though; a ruler who used poison as part of his iron fist shouldn't be interested in educating peasants. This was more likely master's work. It wasn't safe to draw any conclusions though.

"… people even say that the mana tax's purpose is to make gods out of the kings…"

What? That would definitely be a highly classified secret if that was true!

[It's fine that was just me playing tricks with your mind. Don't worry; you will be able to prevent tricks on your mind if you learn to properly intake your mana. Hmm we will have to go over the tiers of magecraft.]

"... and as you well know there is a mana tax to go along with the normal tax at the moment. You're dismissed."

Jay would have to find out who the trainees were.


End file.
